Climate Change

At its core, climate change simply indicates "any significant change in the measures of climate lasting for an extended period of time" ( EPA). Global climate change is often spoken of in tandem with global warming, which refers to the recent warming trends in the average temperature of the Earth.

Fact sheets on climate change, written for the general public:

More fact sheets in this series will be added in the next few months, including fact sheets on Ecosystem Impacts; Water Resources; and Shorelines (with NY Sea Grant).

The Greenhouse Effect

Much like the glass of a greenhouse, the Earth's atmosphere keeps heat contained to a level that allows life to flourish. The atmosphere consists of water vapor, nitrogen, oxygen, and trace gases, which include carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. The general warming of the planet is being caused by an increase in these trace gases, often called 'greenhouse gases', which then trap increasing amounts of heat. Less of the infrared heat that is emitted by the Earth is able to pass through the atmosphere when these gases are increased, and instead reflect back, warming the Earth's surface more than usual.

The Sciencenter in Ithaca created an online Climate Change Toolkit, a suite of climate change education resources for formal and informal educators at schools, museums and other venues.

For videos explaining climate change, visit : www.HowGlobalWarmingWorks.org. They have a 52-second version, and the lengths range up to a 5-minute video, so you can pick the level of detail you want and the amount of time you want to commit to watching.

Rethinking Climate Change

Warmest Years

The year 2013 ties with 2003 as the fourth warmest year globally since records began in 1880. The annual global combined land and ocean surface temperature was 0.62°C (1.12°F) above the 20th century average of 13.9°C (57.0°F). This marks the 37th consecutive year (since 1976) that the yearly global temperature was above average. Currently, the warmest year on record is 2010, which was 0.66°C (1.19°F) above average. Including 2013, 9 of the 10 warmest years in the 134-year period of record have occurred in the 21st century. Only one year during the 20th century-1998-was warmer than 2013. Read more at National Climate Data Center, part of NOAA

The Past 150 Years and the Next 100 Years. An MIT panel (April 2011) that seeks to “create a civil discourse (on climate change) that helps us understand better the varied concerns of people on the topic," say moderator John Reilly.

Weather vs Climate

Global warming can be hard to imagine during long, cold winters. However, the weather in one location does not represent the climate as a whole. Though some years may be colder than others in some places, the average temperatures of the planet are rising.

See the newly created Cornell Climate Change website for many more resources, recent news, and upcoming events.

Earth: Operators' Manual

PBS program on climate change. Earth: The Operators’ Manual dispenses with politics, polemics or punditry; instead, it presents an objective, accessible assessment of the Earth’s problems and possibilities that will leave viewers informed, energized and optimistic. (April 2011)